Meet Youtube Star Keaton Milburn

With her unique, bold style, perfectly white smile, and genuine personality, a 20-year- old college student is captivating the hearts of makeup and fashion lovers alike with her lifestyle YouTube channel.

Photo courtesy of Keaton Milburn from a shoot with Maybelline for Seventeen.

Keaton Milburn is a sophomore at Arizona State University, majoring in sportsjournalism. When she isn’t studying with her Alpha Phi sorority sisters in Hayden Library, she is creating and editing videos for her YouTube channel.

She started her channel at the age of 13 because her passion for all things lifestyle inspired her to start making videos and sharing them with the world.

“I decided to start a YouTube channel because I really loved fashion and makeup,” saidMilburn. “I thought it would be fun to share that passion on social media.”

Although her idea started with her love for fashion and makeup, her channel also features travel videos, where she documents her trips and gives her audience a sneak peek into the places she visits.

“I focus mainly on lifestyle stuff like outfits and tutorials on makeup,” said Milburn. “ButI love traveling and sharing my trips on YouTube about all the fun places I go.”

Creating the videos and brainstorming content can be a challenge, especially as a collegestudent. Milburn’s mother, Shawna Collins, Director of Constituent Relations at Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas, acts as her ‘momager’, alongside a professional manager, who works on negotiating contracts and sponsorships with brands. Together, the three of them create a perfect team.

“I work mostly on the analysis of her social media platforms so Keaton can focus on justproducing high-quality content,” said Collins.

Alongside the analytics, Collins responds to emails sent to Milburn. Although the workcan be time-consuming, she enjoys being a part of the process. Milburn appreciates her help and credits her as her biggest support and source of motivation.

“My biggest motivator is my mom,” said Milburn. “She always supports what I want todo and helps to push me to do better.”

Despite all the hard work both on and off camera, there is negativity from the audience,which is unavoidable with a fan base of 387,760 subscribers. Milburn doesn’t allow the negative comments to affect her and says that “it’s better to just keep being positive!”

As her mother, one of Collins’ biggest concerns with Milburn’s YouTube channel isnegativity and how it could affect Milburn personally. But she has continually risen above the ‘haters’ and continues to do what she loves, no matter what others say or what obstacles come in her way.

“Keaton has grown into such a confident person. She truly isn’t affected much by haters,”said Collins. “She doesn’t usually seek approval from others for her validation, so that makes it easier to deal with the negative side.”

Her positive fan base and close friends also help Milburn move beyond any negativityshe may face. Kelsey McEwen is a sophomore at Arizona State University, studying sportsjournalism, and is a member of the same sorority as Milburn, Alpha Phi.

The two became friends at the beginning of their freshman year, after realizing how much they have in common. McEwen watches all of Milburn’s videos and doesn’t let her fame get in the way of their friendship.

“I’ve never really watched YouTube so I didn’t realize how famous she is until webecame close,” said McEwen.

“But this has never affected my friendship with Keaton, if anything, in a positive way it has. She asks me to help out sometimes by helping her film or taking a picture of her wearing something that was sent to her by a company.”

Milburn not only captures the eye and heart of people around the world but those closestto her appreciate her for more than just a beauty guru.

“My favorite quality of Keaton would be that she’s so loyal,” said McEwen. “She isalways making me laugh and brightens my day.”

Milburn has also accomplished a lot since the early days of her channel when negativityand self-doubt clouded her future as a YouTuber. She recently reached 100,000 followers on her Instagram account and was featured in “Seventeen” magazine for the popular makeup brand, Maybelline.

But Milburn doesn’t let her accomplishments get in the way of who she is and whatshe believes in.

“My proudest moments of Keaton have been when she’s not in the spotlight,” said hermother.

“Keaton has overcome setbacks with such grace. Even when she fails at something, shenever gives up. I am most proud of her when I see her using the platform God gave her to do good.”